Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath

Inspection of a good school: Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath School Road, Hockley Heath, Solihull, West Midlands B94 6RA

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Outcome

Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The principal of this school is Louise Porter. This school is part of Tudor Grange Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Claire Maclean, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Peter Rock. There is also an executive principal, Sarah Deakin, who is responsible for this school and three others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their learning at this school. They feel happy and safe in school. One pupil commented, ‘Teachers are good at this school. We can go to them with any problems or worries and they will help. Lessons are fun.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high aspirations for all pupils to achieve their potential. Pupils work hard and reach these high expectations. This includes those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the disadvantaged. The school expects these groups of pupils to achieve as well as all other pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have many responsibilities which help them to grow in confidence and independence as they progress through school. They care for others, have high ambition and have a sense of purpose. The curriculum extends beyond the academic. Pupils go on many visits. They take part in a wide range of clubs. Many pupils take part in sporting competitions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. Pupils know and follow the behaviour rules. They agree they are fair. Staff consistently apply the behaviour rewards and penalties policy. Pupils and staff agree that behaviour has improved. If pupils sense unfairness about behaviour rules they speak with staff. The staff listen and make appropriate changes. 19 and 20 March 2024

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Children get off to a superb start to their education in the early years. The nursery and Reception classrooms are magical places where children learn and play. Staff focus well on the development of communication skills and early language. Children interact well with staff. This enables children to make good progress in the early years.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is a high priority in this school. Recently, the school introduced a new scheme for the teaching of phonics. Staff received high-quality initial training to deliver it. Pupils are now reading with fluency and confidence. Staff help any children falling behind in their phonics to catch up rapidly. The lower phonics outcomes last year are now a thing of the past. Adults encourage pupils to read with expression. Storytime brings texts to life for pupils. The books read by staff and their classes are diverse and well matched to pupils’ interests. Staff make links to other subject areas while reading.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum is well planned, progressive and sequenced. It identifies what pupils should know and be able to do in each year group and each subject. This is helping pupils to know and remember more as they progress through school. Opportunities exist for pupils to recall prior learning or deepen their thinking in all subjects. However, sometimes opportunities to extend pupils’ knowledge of vocabulary go unexplored in some subjects. The school has worked hard on improving mathematics. In lessons, pupils have opportunities to develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills. A few pupils are unsure of key mathematical knowledge, which hinders their learning.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils with SEND are well identified in school. They benefit from the quality support received for their extra needs. The support is helping pupils with SEND to thrive in their learning. The school works well with external agencies to provide any specialist support needed.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Attendance is high priority at this school. There is robust oversight of pupils’ attendance. It is closely tracked and analysed. The school then uses a wide range of strategies to support and encourage regular attendance. Likewise, behaviour incidents are forensically analysed to identify and act on any emerging trends.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

There are many opportunities for pupils to widen their development beyond the classroom. Recently, pupils who are ‘agents for change’ organised a successful cultural day. This celebrated the diverse range of cultural backgrounds of pupils. Staff and pupils speak about it with a sense of pride and achievement. Pupils are respectful and tolerant of those who are different. Pupils understand fundamental British values and know how they help them to live their lives.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school is well led and managed. Governors and trustees understand and fully undertake their responsibilities. The school receives effective levels of support and challenge from the trust. The school is considerate of staff workload and mindful of staff well-being. The school provides more support when requested. 19 and 20 March 2024

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The school has a good relationship with parents. A parent commented, ‘A lovely local school, full of children from the village. Fabulous staff, learning resources and events! I would recommend this school to anyone in the local area.’ This comment is typical.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils do not have a clear enough understanding of key knowledge and vocabulary in some subjects. This reduces their ability to remember and successfully build on what they have learned previously. The school should place greater emphasis on fully embedding key knowledge and making sure that pupils understand important subject vocabulary.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually, this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2014.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 19 and 20 March 2024

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In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with SEND; pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 March 2024

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roll

Website www.hockleyheath.tgacademy.org.uk

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Date of previous inspection 18 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a nursery for two-year-olds.  The school runs a before- and after-school club managed by the governing body.  Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath converted to become an academy in August 2012 and joined Tudor Grange Academies Trust in January 2022.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school. 19 and 20 March 2024

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 The inspector held meetings with the executive principal, principal, members of the senior leadership team, curriculum leaders, the SENCo, representatives of the trust and groups of staff and pupils.  The inspector met with representatives of the local governing body, the chief executive officer of the trust and representatives of the board of trustees.  The inspector carried out deep dives in three subjects: early reading, mathematics and design and technology. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View. The inspector spoke informally to parents outside the school and received a letter from one parent. The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector reviewed school documents, including those relating to governance, behaviour and attendance. The inspector also scrutinised leaders’ plans for improvement and their assessment of the school’s effectiveness.  The inspector spoke informally to pupils and visited the school’s breakfast club.

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Inspection team

Declan McCauley, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 March 2024

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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